Saturday, October 12, 2013

The Weight of Books and Waiting.

It's 3:44am here in Berlin. All the bags are packed and Nick and I are finishing up our bottle of wine from 3 days ago while waiting for the next hour to pass - and at the same time hoping that it will never pass.
4:45am is the time when he will be getting into the taxi and leave Lucy and me all alone for two weeks. So rude! Admittedly, for my trip last month, I was gone for 2 days longer than he will be away - but still.
We both don't do well apart, so I know that we will be equally busy counting down the days and hours until his return.

Thankfully, we managed to go to the store today to buy all the good things that will keep me alive for the next 14 days.

As you can see, there is also a very healthy spaghetti squash and numerous nutritious bananas in this house.I just have yet to figure out how to cook this football shaped vegetable.

As some of you know. I have a nasty habit of surrounding myself with books. It's partly because of my job (or rather: future job, or rather: the future job I am hoping for), and partly, because I just love to read.

It has always been like that. When I was a child, I read each and every book I could get a hold of. From Anne of Green Gables, over Karl May, and stories about robbers, or books by Astrid Lindgren, to encyclopedias (my parents were always extra pleased when I lost one of their (numbered) encyclopedia volumes - or single pages of said books - somewhere between my toys).

I remember being about 10 years old, coming home from a sleep-over from my aunts and uncles house, and hauling a big bag of books into my room. She had let me borrow them and I did not waste any time reading all of them - over and over again before I had to return them.

Back then, it was only a bag of 12 volumes ("Pucki", by Magda Trott - these books are, by the way, from today's perspective, highly questionable in their representation of women ... and by "highly questionable", I mean absolutely ridiculous!), but today, I have boxes, shelves, more boxes, and additional bags filled with books. If you float between two countries, via air, the weight of the books you have spent years and years accumulating, becomes very obvious.

I have audio books, of course, but only a few of them, because I am one of "those", who have to have the written word in front of their eyes. Even worse, I have to have the written word in front of me on paper. I can read pdf documents on my iPad, I can even read other articles or shorter texts on that wonderful device. However, everything beyond a certain length, I can't handle in a non-paper format.

Of course, you will be yelling out loud now "then why do you blog!?", "all of us [three readers] have no choice but to read your wise words on a screen". I know. But don't worry, shorter pieces are okay and I will always try keeping it below that specific length that would require a book format! I, too, spent hours reading other peoples' wonderful blogs.

Hopefully, one day in the near-ish future, I will have all of them combined on one side of the ocean. Mama has been shipping them to me ever since I initially left Germany a few years ago, but there are still a few boxes left.

It would be wonderful, if I could just read everything electronic, but I can't. Nick, who not only understands and handles my weirdness every day, even added another book to my "German pile" (on this side of the ocean) today. He ordered a book that I have been eying for about 5 weeks now. I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail and read it in one sitting. It will be spectacular. (No worries, you will hear about it.)

Of course, this book has to make its way to the U.S. at some point, too, and yes, it is adding to the weight of my future book bags that have to go on the plane with me. However, for this one, I am more than happy to leave a pair of shoes in Germany.

If it is as great as I am hoping for it to be AND will help time to fly by until Nick gets back, then it is not only worth every cent, but I would also even carry it in my purse to bring it to my "U.S. pile".

Now let me ask you. Do you read on an iPad, Kindle, your laptop? Or are you bound to physical books, too?

Have you ever had to move your books for a longer distance? Maybe even across an ocean? How did you do it? (via mail, or in a checked bag on the plane, or via boat?)

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This is me

Hello and welcome to Stina On The Move! My name is Christina and I am an aspiring runner, who just moved to Berlin.
Originally, I am from Germany, but I met my husband in the US, where we lived in Maryland for a few years. Life has taken us to several places and we love to explore everything close and far from us. We have a dog, Lucy, who moved with us and is keeping us company.
My blog is about running, food, living in a new place, and randomness along the way.
I am always happy to meet new people, so feel free to email me!